3 years ago

The force of primary importance acting on a projectile is gravity. This is not to say that other forces do not exist, just that their effect is minimal in comparison. A tossed helium-filled balloon is not normally considered a projectile as the drag and buoyant forces on it are as significant as the weight. Helium-filled balloons can't be thrown long distances and don't normally fall. In contrast, a crashing airplane would be considered a projectile. Even though the drag and buoyant forces acting on it are much greater in absolute terms than they are on the balloon, gravity is what really drives a crashing airplane. The normal amounts of drag and buoyancy just aren't large enough to save the passengers on a doomed flight from an unfortunate end. A projectile is any object with an initial non-zero, horizontal velocity whose acceleration is due to gravity alone.